Chapter 664 — All Things Have Changed

The Eastern Frontier, the White Sand Hills region.

An engineering corps had arrived at this mining district aboard a train service that had resumed several days earlier. The mining facilities once destroyed were now being rebuilt, and the White Sand Hills were steeped in an atmosphere of busy order—hoisting equipment, engineering vehicles, construction scaffolds, and fencing wire were everywhere. And among all the work sites, one place was especially distinct:

The enormous "Crater of the Fallen God" near the White Water River.

At the site where the artificial god had fallen, the vast crater was now under tight surveillance by the Cecil Legion. Several temporary watchtowers and defensive works overlooked every movement within and around the pit, and near the "remnants of bone" at the crater's bottom, a small research station had already been erected.

Of that terrible artificial god, only an incomplete skeleton remained. Twisted, mutated bone fragments stood upon the earth in a menacing posture, a small portion of them buried among the rubble and soil at the crater's floor, while quantities of flesh and tissue remnants lay scattered nearby. Those profane biological tissues seemed to cling to a trace of vitality, still maintaining a degree of activity to this day, ceaselessly radiating powerful magical fluctuations.

These incredible remnants were, without question, precious research specimens.

Accompanied by several apprentices, soldiers, and officers, Pi Yun walked slowly among those giant bone fragments. The old druid held his hands behind his back, his waist and spine slightly stooped, his gaze sweeping over the unsettling remains nearby. Metal frames propped up the tottering skeleton, and in the several zones marked off by those frames, signs staked into the ground bore labels such as "Sampled," "Not Sampled," and "Cleared."

Pi Yun halted and stood quietly regarding the bone structure before him. Some surviving flesh crept slowly between the bones, emitting a faint, nauseating sound and twitching from time to time—as though this portion of biological tissue were still experiencing the phantom pain of battle.

"These things are still twitching even now," one of the accompanying officers could not help murmuring. "Truly a terrifying creation..."

"The tail of a blue-tailed marsh lizard will still twitch for a week after it's been cut off—it will even jump. Nature has always shaped these incredible wonders of life; there's nothing rare about it in itself..." Pi Yun said casually. "The thing before us is only terrifying because it is exceptionally vast."

Then he turned to his apprentices: "Take samples from this position—it should be near its nerve center. Perhaps the remnants here can tell us whether it even has a structure like a 'nerve center.'"

Several apprentices boldly approached the still-twitching, writhing flesh and activated the cutting tools they carried—fusion-cutting swords, cutting beams, and high-power saw blades. These powerful, reliable tools were the researchers' good companions—and amid bursts of piercing noise, sparks flew at the sampling sites.

That seemingly soft flesh and fragile bone was in truth terrifyingly strong; without some "professional tools," it could not be cut open at all.

A rustling, crawling sound came from nearby. Tyr, in her sea-serpent form, wriggled over to where Pi Yun and the others stood. The siren lady raised her head, watched the druid apprentices taking samples, parted her lips slightly, and drooled all over the ground.

Then she began to comment: "I'm telling you, this spot has the best texture—it's one of the few chewy parts on this pile of artificial meat, and it doesn't get stuck in your teeth..."

The officer beside Pi Yun immediately wore a strange expression and said with considerable helplessness, "Miss Tyr, didn't we agree you wouldn't eat in the unsampled areas? Even though the higher-ups have approved your eating here, at the very least don't interfere with our research..."

Tyr immediately waved her hands. "No trouble at all, no trouble at all—I only tasted a tiny, insignificant little bit. It definitely won't affect your work, right, Pi Yun?"

"As long as you don't eat in front of us—it would be harmful to my apprentices' mental health," Pi Yun glanced at this deep-sea salt fish, then turned back and continued gazing abstractedly at the giant bones and the twitching, writhing biological tissue. "...It really is hard to imagine how on earth they built this..."

"We found the place where this giant stag first appeared, and in the western region of Thorin Fort we discovered enormous rifts and caverns leading deep underground. There appears to be an ancient subterranean complex there, and this monster must have come to the surface from it," the accompanying officer said. "But conditions underground are too complex and dangerous; for now we cannot continue exploring."

Pi Yun mused for a moment, then nodded slightly. "...The nest of the Order of All Things' End is indeed located underground, but it is a place older and more complex than the Fortress of Defiance. You were right not to explore rashly."

As a former member of the Order of All Things' End, he actually knew of the existence of this underground facility—but only that it existed.

That mysterious subterranean complex was an ancient product, perhaps as old as the Fortress of Defiance, yet no one knew its true origin or purpose. The cultists of the Myriad Hells had built a complex "vine network" within it to connect the various regions and control the passages to the surface. Beyond that, they had set countless traps and hidden doors in the underground palace to repel any possible invasion—and all of these, like the magical keys for entering the palace, changed constantly.

That underground facility had likely suffered severe damage after the giant stag ran out of control, but a great many mechanisms and traps surely still remained.

Pi Yun had left the Order of All Things' End far too long ago; the intelligence he possessed was long outdated, and so he did not dare lead anyone to explore that place.

"Report the relevant intelligence. Matters of this sort are not for us to decide."

The accompanying officer lowered his head. "Yes, Master Pi Yun."

...

Jenny raised her head slightly. The wide brim of her sun hat shielded her from the fierce near-noon sunlight, and a breeze lifted strands of her white hair past her ear.

Beneath the bright daylight, the classical, solemn walls and towers of Holy Sunil shone brilliantly before her eyes. Banners fluttered atop the city walls, imposing soldiers stood at their posts, and the old streets, rich in the Ansu manner, stretched away under the sun—lined on both sides by weathered, uneven houses, filled with pedestrians hurrying to and fro.

The city of Xuanque seemed not to have changed much from when she had left it, yet it also seemed to have changed a great deal. A feeling both familiar and strange welled up in her heart, inevitably bringing a complicated look to the eyes of Cecil's chief runesmith.

An accompanying officer came to Jenny's side and stood at attention with a salute. "Master Jenny, will you be reporting directly to the Silver Bastion?"

In Cecil, all senior technical researchers and master artisans bore the title of "Master," and Jenny was among the very first to receive it.

"I'd like to go somewhere first," Jenny said, looking at the officer who bore a knight's insignia and smiling gently. "Please take the others on to the castle ahead of me."

"Yes, Master—I'll arrange your escort at once."

Jenny paused, then instinctively waved a hand. "An escort? No need. I'm familiar with this place; I'll go on my own..."

A trace of difficulty showed on the officer's face. "Master, those are the orders from above. The city of Xuanque has not yet lifted its special status; your movements here all require military protection..."